Everyone has the occasional sleepless night. But when insomnia becomes a persistent trend, it impacts your quality of life, affects your daily performance and increases the risk of ill-health.
A lack of sleep has been linked with obesity, heart diseases and type 2 diabetes.
Even if you don’t suffer from insomnia, studies have shown that people aged between 34 and 65 get less quality of sleep.
There is an obvious correlation between working lives here. We have already covered how walking can help sedentary workers reduce the risk of ill-health if you want more information.
Experts say brisk walking boosts the effect of natural sleep hormones such as melatonin.
A study published in the specialist journal Sleep Health shows that moving your body during the day helps you sleep better at night.
The study involved 59 participants aged between 30 and 60 years old who all slept for around 7-hours a night. The average age was 49.
The intervention group were encouraged to increase their daily walking by at least 2000 steps – about one mile on average. A control group did not receive any instruction at all.
Participants reported better sleep quality for a longer duration.
Walking The Extra Mile
Poor sleep quality is a problem in the modern age. A study performed by Aviva revealed 67% of UK adults have disrupted sleep patterns, 23% do not sleep for more than five hours a night and 31% suffer from insomnia.
The study also showed that one in ten take sleeping pills – which have been linked with addiction and increases the risk of cancer by three to five times more than if you don’t take medication.
Expert Vonda Wright, MD, says a brisk walk in the morning has been shown to increase deep sleep by 75%. Moreover, that extra mile is the ideal tonic that brings about a better quality of sleep for longer.
If you need encouragement to walk further, especially if you’ve got kids, go walking in nature.
If you want a better night’s sleep, brisk walking is a moderate exercise that doesn’t disrupt your usual routine. But don’t forget to count your steps by downloading the sweatcoin app.
